Alex and I arrive at Hanna's house a little after nine P.M. The girl on my arm looks amazing and we can't stop smiling at how good the other looks. She looks so sexy in her nineteen-twenty's flapper dress. Her hair is swept off to the side so it swoops just above her eye. Her dress is short and shows off her thin but tone legs, which are adorned with thin pantyhose, which I can't wait to strip off later. She must like my look as well because when I answered the door earlier in my pinstriped pants, tucked-in white collared shirt, suspenders and black and white dress shoes, her jaw dropped. And I didn't even have the slim cut suit coat or fedora to finish off the mobster look on yet.
The party is already going strong when we step up to the front door. We can easily hear the music outside on the front step. I don't bother knocking because I know no one will hear me anyway and the two of us walk inside to find the place fairly crowded. I don't know a lot of these people.
"Paige!" I hear a deep voice to my right call out. Looking over, I see Caleb dressed like Clark Kent with his Superman costume visible beneath his halfway unbuttoned shirt. "Hanna told me you were alive and back! I'm so glad I get to see you!" He pulls me into a bear hug, lifting me off my feet in the process. I smile at the contact, happy to see my friend again.
"Hey Caleb, where have you been?" I say. I honestly didn't know he was still around or if he and Hanna were still even together. Hanna hadn't mentioned it and I didn't think to ask.
"I got a tech job in California. It's really amazing. I come home now and then for holidays to see everyone," he smiles at me, not taking his hand off my shoulder.
"That's great man," I say smiling, truly happy for him. "So are you and Hanna..."
"No we broke up when I left, but we are on good terms now," he replies with a smile. I'm glad to hear that my friends are doing well. I introduce him to Alex before he walks with us to the living room where most of the people are dancing, standing around, talking and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Hanna really went all out but to be honest I wasn't expecting anything less. It takes me all of about two seconds to realize that the girls chose a theme of superheroes this year when I see Aria in a slightly modified Wonder Woman costume (she always has to put her own fashion spin on whatever she's wearing) and Hanna in a Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman get up. I swear these four girls always have the best costumes. I'm glancing around to see who Emily chose to be this year when Spencer pops up unexpectedly in front of me with a drink for Alex and two shots. She's always the most modestly and accurately dressed of the four on Halloween. This year she choose to wear an exact replica of Jean Grey's uniform from the X-men comics, complete with a red wig.
"You're going to need these," she says into my ear as she hands me both shot glasses. I look at her confused, my eye brows scrunched together, head slightly tilted. Before Spencer can explain, Alex sees her.
"Holy leather... Who IS that dark-haired beauty," she says, nodding and looking over to my right. I turn my head slowly and see her standing there in Black Widow's (from the Avengers) tight, full-body, black leather suit, with just enough cleavage showing. Spencer is right: I do need these shots. I down them immediately, one after the other, before shaking my head and turning around to hand the glasses back to Spencer. I nod her a thanks, wide-eyed as she pats my shoulder. It's going to be a long night.
"That," I say, turning so that I'm facing Alex with my back to Emily. "...is Emily." She must not recognize Emily from the club. I mean it was dark and Emily wasn't dressed anything like this.
"You're EX, Emily? The same one from the club?" She inquires her eyes wide when I nod at her in confirmation. "Oh wow..." is all she can say as she continues to stare at the impossible amount of sexy standing on the other side of the room while taking a gulp of her drink." She's really not making this easy for you huh?" Alex comments, looking into my eyes. I can tell from the look in her eyes that she's nervous and maybe a tad unnerved that my ex looks like Emily Fields does so I try to lighten then situation.
"Well," I say linking my arm with her's and walking her towards the kitchen to get more drinks. "It turns out that I happened to meet this really hot woman who decided to wear a teasingly short dress today, so I'm kinda distracted by her," I half-lie because it really is not easy for me to not look at Emily in...THAT.
"So," Alex says looking up at me with a smirk. "Sometimes things do work out alright huh?" I let out a little short puff of air and smirk out the side of my mouth at the phrase.
"Yeah sometimes," I say turning my head to look at Emily again before adding to myself, 'when no one's looking, things work out.'
I pull closed the small shade covering the compartment window before looking back at Emily in her silver costume. She looks amazing and we look amazing together. I smile as I walk back to my girlfriend.
"I like this," she remarks smiling at me as I lean to the side to cover the distance faster.
"Travel is so romantic," I comment. I'm buzzing inside with happiness; standing here in front of my beautiful girlfriend, someone I've wanted to be with for a long time and she's actually mine. It's unbelievable.
"We can stay on board," she says. "Tell them to keep going, never stop." I smile at her full of enamor and wonderment before shaking my head slightly and kissing her with as much passion and love as I can muster. I pull back and stand there holding both of her hands as I scan her up and down.
"What?" She says with a smirk, trying to decide what I'm thinking. I take off my top hat and rest it on the table next to us.
"I'm just looking at you," I say my voice low and sensual. "Sometimes I'm still amazed that you're with me." I really am. I can't believe she chose me, out of everyone else, she chose me. How lucky am I?
"I'm amazed that you're with me," she answers back, her eyes looking into mine with love.
"You mean to tell me that things actually work out alright?" I say, tilting my head playfully.
"Sometimes, when nobody's looking, yeah, things work out," she says, a smile on her face. Neither of us can stop smiling at each other. We are so in love.
"Tell me about love on your planet," I say playfully, bringing our linked hands up to our faces before pushing them back down again to kiss her long and hard.
Alex and I go and dance for a while until we are tired and in need of another drink. The whole time we are dancing, I keep finding ways to look at Emily. It's hard not to watch her. Despite having Alex, it's hard to not long after Emily. I've always wanted Emily and I always will. I know now that my affections for her will never change, will never go away, no matter how much I will them too. I catch her staring at me a few times and I wonder what she's thinking. We haven't spoken to each other yet tonight. I, for one, haven't initiated any conversation yet because I'm too afraid my mouth will blurt out things it really shouldn't, in front of her fiancé, who hasn't left her side all night. I don't blame Stephanie. If my fiancé dressed like that to a party, I'd have my arm around her all night too. Actually, Emily probably wouldn't have made it out the door in the first place and if she did, I'd be finding as many opportunities as possible to sneak away to a secluded corner or empty room.
When we need a break from dancing, Alex goes and sits down on the edge of the dance floor while I get some more drinks for us. I find Hanna in there, playing hostess by replacing empty snack bowls with full ones. She smiles at me when she sees me and rushes over to give me a hug.
"You looking awesome, Paige! I love the look and I must say, Alex looks pretty amazing in that dress huh?" She says winking at me and nudging me with her elbow. I smile and look down at the floor, thinking not about Alex's appearance but about how amazing Emily looks instead. Between the two of them, my ocular senses are on overdrive.
"Yes, Hanna, she looks amazing," I answer her. "But I didn't need you to tell me that." I smile at her and receive a smile and an exaggerated wink back. "Do you need any help," I ask, when I see her turn back to her bowls and snacks. I don't really want to be put to work but since Hanna's my friend, I figure I should at least put forth the effort to be nice and helpful. Plus, it's nice being in here, away from the constant temptation to look at Emily when I'm in the other room.
"No thanks. I'm doing fine. Almost done, actually," she says looking around to see if she's checked everything. "You just get back to that new girl of yours." She winks at me again before turning around to fill another bowl. 'My new girl'. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Sure, being with Alex is amazing and I love spending time with her but I've only ever felt like there was one girl in particular that could ever be 'my girl' and I don't know how I'll ever replace her completely. This moving on business is harder than it looks and it didn't look easy to begin with.
I pour another drink for Alex and I and head back to the living room where I left Alex. I'm taken aback when I walk into the room to see Emily talking to Alex. Emily is talking to Alex. The sight almost doesn't register with me. I can't hear or tell what they are saying to each other, so I'm not sure if I should be elated or terrified that they are talking. When Emily glances to the side and sees me walking towards them, she turns back to Alex to say a few more words before leaving her and walking towards me. She looks as if she wants to say something to me so I pause for a second as she reaches me.
"She's not good enough for you," Emily states, her eyes fairly glossy and her voice a little shaky "But no one really is." She then walks by me without another word, leaving me speechless and lost. I stand there for a second, my body twisted to look after her, drinks still in my hand. 'What is doing on?' I think to myself. 'What did she mean by that?' I walk up to Alex and jut my head and shoulders forward, silently asking 'what happened?' but Alex just shakes her head in answer as she takes her drink from my hand.
"Alex," I say imploringly, "what did she say to you?"
"Just the normal 'break her heart and I'll break your face' routine," she says. I don't completely believe her because I know Emily better than that. I don't want to push it though. I was completely honest with Alex about my past so I hope I can trust her enough to do the same.